Season 2 (Episode 1): Your Words Carry Weight: Speak Life

Welcome to Pain, Passion, and Purpose. I am your host, Shakeeta Torres, where I share mental health education, biblical teachings, and tips to help you to heal on purpose so you can walk boldly in your God-given purpose. This podcast is sponsored by Empowered Purpose Academy, a certified online Christian academy where we provide services such as certification for Christian life coaches, mentorship for master's level aspiring and existing Christian therapists, mentorship for Christians, and continued education courses for the body of Christ. You can visit www.empoweredpurposeacademy.com to learn more and to download your free guide. If you like today's episode, please subscribe and leave us a raving review so that others can tap into the knowledge and wisdom that will be shared on this podcast. Thank you so much for being here. Hey, you guys, welcome back to Pain, Passion, and Purpose. I am so excited, you guys. I am so happy to be back on my podcast. Listen, I have been trying to restart and launch season 2 for many weeks now. If it's not one thing, it's another. The most recent thing that happened was that my family and I had gotten sick, which pushed things back about 2 weeks for me so that I can have time to record, get my thoughts together, get— hear God, hear what God wants me to say. Um, on this season. And so what I'm going to do is first I want to share a little bit about what I have been up to. Season 1 ended in November 2021, and my goal was to start back the podcast in May 2022, but here it is, it's June, so I'm like a month out, and that's okay. But I prefer to do things in excellence and not try to rush just to push content out. And so I feel like this season is well worth the wait. And so in part 1, I'm going to go into what I've been up to. And then part 2, I'm going to share the theme of season 2 and what God gave me. You guys, it is amazing. It's going to inspire you, educate you, and just so much more. I feel like I've done so much more research and understanding podcasts and sound and audio. Compared to season 1. I want to make sure that we have as much, um, clarity as possible. And I will be bringing on guests in season 2 that are going to be powerful women, and hopefully I'll have some men that will say yes too to joining my podcast this season. So anywho, let's get into it. So in January of 2022, I did begin a mental health segment on the radio on 104.5. So every Tuesday at 11 AM, about 11:15 AM, I will be giving a Mental Minute Health check-in every single week until the end of 2022. Ha! So exciting. It's been amazing. My sister Tamika Bright has been a blessing. You can follow her on Instagram @tamikabright to learn more about her, what she does. Her voice to me is just amazing. Okay, in February 2022, I was a speaker for NOVA, and I did a 90-minute workshop on human trafficking and safety, and it was so amazing. As many of you guys know, I do have a nonprofit that I founded called Doing It for the Kingdom Incorporated, where we share education about human trafficking. Right now we are on a break and we are in transition, and. And so in the fall and in the upcoming months, we will be seeking out new board members because my current board members, their term has ended. And so I'm just pacing myself, you know, hearing God and not allowing myself to take on so, so, so much at one time. So be sure to go and learn more about human trafficking. It's an easy Google. It's an easy, you know, going to YouTube and learning about human trafficking. Shakeeta Torres. Shakeeta Torres. Shakeeta Torres. Shakeeta Torres. For local nonprofits wherever you are to learn, because no one is exempt from being trafficked. Okay, then in March in 2022, I launched my mentorship program for aspiring and existing Christian therapists. Um, it's for master level students who are in school or about to graduate to help them to combine mental health and spirituality in the therapy room. And so over the years, I have counseled so many other therapists and have heard other therapists cry about not having that support. So I do have a mentorship, um, a community for that as well. So if you're interested in that or you know someone that is, please feel free to share and visit www.empoweredpurposeacademy.com to learn more. So then in April, um, the Lord had been speaking to me heavily about this, like, transition. And I can actually feel the transition. I can feel that my spirit needed more. And so oftentimes when I feel that, I begin to ask God questions like, okay God, in this season, who should I be following? In this season, what should my focus be? Because I realized that people who are where you're trying to be or where God is taking you, it's important to eat from their table. And so what is that? What do I mean by that? What I mean by that is whether they are a mentorship from afar, are you watching it on YouTube or hearing them on their podcast or Googling or whatever platform they may have? God might have you follow them for a season so you can grow in particular areas. And so for me, over the years, that's exactly what happens for me. Seasons change, and as you grow, the information that you take in needs to become meatier and meatier. And so that's where I am. Um, I ended up going to Apostle Jennifer LeClaire's Elijah Company intensive for prophets for 4 days and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in the beginning of April, and God led me to go there. So I won't go into great, great detail because I don't want this podcast to be 45 minutes, okay? And it was powerful. I felt like I was home away from home. Words cannot explain or express the feeling that I had in my belly. Oh my God, we— oh, you got— I was so saturated when I— it took me almost 2 weeks when I came home to get myself together because I was on such a spiritual high and my spirit was just so sensitive. I could feel literally everything because we were so saturated. We received impartation. Oh my gosh, like, I know for a fact that I went to another level spiritually, okay? And so God had told me to start following her um, before I went to the conference. And every day for almost a month, I was listening to her prayer calls, Mornings with the Holy Spirit. Now mind you, I've known of Apostle for many years, since 2012, 2013, whenever I first, first discovered who God was calling me to be. And some years went by, like I said before, God would lead me to follow, you know, other people, follow other ministries, be under other ministries to learn and to to pour out as well and to lead and to be a help to the church. And so I went, I was obedient, and when I came back, the Lord continued to speak to me and told me to start a prayer hub. So I'm a prayer hub leader for my area, which is Raeford, North Carolina, and it's about 20 minutes from Fayetteville, North Carolina. And what it is, is that we as prayer hub leaders, it's our responsibility to, you know, let others know about our prayer hub. Um, and we pray for our city, we pray for our country, our nation, our state. And every month Apostle releases prayer points, and you only, um, required to meet once a month, in which we do, we meet once a month. But for me, I'm always praying, I'm always trying to stay connected to what's going on, always in my word, because as you You know, we in a— we are in a time where prayer is so important right now. It is so important to be in tune with what's going on so we can prepare and we can, um, be a light for others. And so if you are in need of a place where prayer is the main focus and you want to intercede for your city or your nation, go visit www.awakeningprayerhubs.com. To learn more about the prayer hubs that are all over the world, and also to possibly join one or maybe even start one in your area. It's super easy. Of course, pray about it, you know, seek God, let Holy Spirit lead you. But I'm just being obedient to what God has asked me to do. It has been amazing. Um, and so in May, um, The Lord spoke to me about creating a Certified Christian Life Coach— coaching certification program. I began working on that and I became a certified coach trainer in June, and my online academy, Empowered Purpose Academy, is now a certified school as well. And then the Lord also spoke to me about starting a prayer reel on Instagram. So on Instagram, every morning, um, right now it's been every single day. God told me to do it for 30 days, but I already knew. He said 30 days, of course, for 30 days you creating a habit, right? So now it's like a habit for me. It's like second nature for me to go and pray on Instagram Reel. It was a God-given vision. And so every day, I'm in the mornings, um, I release a scripture and a prayer that God puts on my heart to pray. And so 30 days actually was today, minus, you know, whenever I was— I'm sick. And so what I feel in my spirit is that the Lord wants me to continue doing it, and I'll probably be doing that Monday through Friday but not on Saturday and Sundays. Instagram algorithm is crazy, so sometimes I have a whole bunch of views and sometimes I don't. But the response to it has been amazing. I've had so many shares, so many likes. Oh my God, it's been amazing. And so many, um, comments, especially on TikTok. So I'm on TikTok as well at Shakeeta Torres_LCSW, and Instagram at Shakeeta Torres. Um, TikTok, I feel like I get a lot more comments Um, and on Instagram I get a lot of views, I guess you could say. But anyway, it doesn't matter because the point of it is to reach people, to reach their heart. God wants their attention, God wants them to be— to feel empowered. And I'm all about prayer, I'm all about empowerment. Okay, so if you get a chance, go check some of them out. So here we are, it is June, and as I just said earlier I have released or opened up a program for Christian life coaches, and also I have continued education courses and the mentorship program for Christian therapists and a mentorship program for Christian women. As of right now, it'll— it will just be women, and God has been giving me so much vision about Empowered Purpose Academy Even my mental health practice, Empowered to Shift. And so it's just a journey. What I'm learning is that I'm always going to be a builder, always. People ask me, how do you always give birth to all these different things? I'm like, because I stay in God's face. I remain available to him. I always ask God to stretch my mind. I always ask God to increase my territory, expand my reach. And I want to create a legacy. I want to create wealth for my family. And so that requires building, that requires time. It's a journey. And so today, this is where I'm at. Next year, it can be something totally different where I'll be adding on more stuff. And it comes from a place of being humble. It comes from a place of love and a place of where I want to make kingdom Impact. That's it, Kingdom Impact. All right, everything that I have done thus far has been a vision that God has given me. And so my prayer is that you too will allow God to show you who you are, to download his purpose for you, and you just obey. Like, keep walking it out. Like, don't stop. Even when you get discouraged, keep going, because I definitely get encouraged too. All right, so this is just a synopsis, okay, of what has been going on with Shakeeta Torres. There is so much more that has happened. Oh my gosh, like my family, my children, my babies are growing significantly. They're growing so much spiritually. I'm so proud of them. I've been trying to get my oldest one to do a podcast episode with me. My husband will also join me for a podcast episode., and we will get into that in part 2. All right, so just take a little break, give me a moment, and I'll be right back. Hey, hey, hey! I hope you are enjoying this episode so far. Don't forget to subscribe and leave us a raving review. I also want to share with you more about Little Warriors in a Bottle. This is healing anointing oil that God instructed me to prepare back in 2015. I have received so many testimonies since 2015 about this oil. It is powerful. It has changed my life and others. So be sure to go visit www.empoweredpurposeacademy/shop to learn more about the oil. And while you're there, you can check out the new book that I co-authored called Just Say No, a number one international bestseller, where I share my story called What Trauma Stole from Me. It is amazing. It will inspire you and encourage you. And there are also 13 other authors who share their story about setting healthy boundaries. So that's it for our little break. Let's get back into part 2 of this Welcome back to part 2 of Pain, Passion, and Purpose. So as I was saying in part 1, the theme for this season is called Your Words Carry Weight. Speak life. Listen, whoo, I felt that. Well, I just said that in this microphone right here. I felt the Spirit of the Lord hit me a little bit, okay? And you know me, everything that I do has some kind of story behind it, right? And that's the case for, I'm assuming, for most people in my experience. And so let me share with you a little bit about how this theme came about. So one of my favorite scriptures that I have definitely used over the years is Proverbs chapter 18, verse 21. It says, death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it and indulge it will eat its fruit and bear the consequences of their words. That's a scripture I have used repeatedly. That's a scripture I have stood on for many, many years. And I, um, I definitely did an in-depth study on that, but I've never really did a in-depth study in the Bible in different circumstances and situations that back up this word. And so of course This scripture to me explains what is— what it's saying. So if you speak death into something, death on yourself, death into your family, death into your marriage, you're going to eat the fruit of your words and you're going to experience death in those areas. If you speak life into areas of your life— marriage, work, your children, whatever it is— you will experience fruit, good fruit, okay? And you will eat the fruit of what you say. How powerful is that? And so recently, and so recently, I had something to happen in my business that really made me aggravated to the point where I'm like, God, every time I try to take a few steps forward in this area, I'm not seeing any fruit. Fruit. And so I got extremely frustrated, and I try my best to be mindful of the words that I say because of this scripture. But every once in a while, you guys, I'm just being honest, I get frustrated and I start having these thoughts. And I try my best to push past it, and most of the time I do. But sometimes you take hit after hit after hit after hit, and you like, God, Like, listen now, I know I'm not by myself with this. And so whenever I had periods like that, I had to go back and repent because I understand that my words and my thoughts have power. And when I go back and I repent, I have to pray over the situation, pray over myself, and uproot some stuff because your words are like seeds, okay? They're like seeds. So the words that we say carry weight. And so I was in the bathroom and I was doing my hair, sitting in, you know, a little stool in front of the mirror, and I was listening to— I can't remember what it was I was listening to. I think it was a mini teaching that Apostle was doing. And typically, you know, I have mindset to where it just continued to play. And this particular time, it ended up going to one LA church. This is Pastor Sarah Jakes and her husband's church. And Pastor Stephanie Ike had a sermon that was called Your Words Carry Wait, and I think it was that, or it might have been another, another, um, title, but either way it got my attention. It was 45 minutes long, and she began to do an in-depth teaching about the different scenarios in the Bible and different things in the word that shows us just how powerful our words are. Things I never really thought about. And it just like opened up my mind and my heart so much more into making sure that I stand on this word even the more. And I have never heard anyone break it down like the way, um, break it down the way she did. It was so beautiful, so convicting, but so needed for my soul. The thing about me is correction does not feel good. But I needed that correction, you guys. I needed that. In that moment, I began to cry, I began to weep, and I began to really repent. My God, forgive me for the words I've spoken. Because the way, um, Stephanie broke that thing down— y'all have to go back, go back and watch it, take notes. That's what I did. I watched it twice. And even in that, as she's sharing scripture with me, God is giving me even deeper revelations of the things that she was talking about, and then also in other areas of our lives. And I was like, God, this word is just so good. And I had been praying and asking God, God, you know, give me a theme for season 2. Season 1, I didn't really have a theme because I was trying to figure things out, and I was like praying before I did each episode. So pretty much Pain, Passion, and Purpose was like about more about my life, and then also about mental health. And it'll be the same thing for season 2, but I wanted to step it up a notch and really have a theme centered around season 2. And so I was sitting there, I watched it twice, and in that moment the Lord said, this is your theme for your podcast for season 2, is your words carry weight, speak life. He had downloaded so much revelation and inside it was so good I had to call my husband. He was at work, he, he work, he working third shift. And so my plan is what God was showing me is that each episode I have is going to intertwine with this theme, whether it's an episode I'm doing by myself or episode that I'm doing with a guest. And the guests that I already have lined up are already aware of this theme and how we're going to put it together with pain, passion, and purpose. And it makes so much sense. It makes so much sense, you guys. Oh gosh, oh gosh, this season is going to change your life. And one of the challenges that Stephanie gave us was to, for 30 days, take 5 minutes and just speak life into every area of your life, whether it's business, marriage, relationship, friendships. Every time I talk about it, I can just feel the weight of God. And whenever I feel that, it's like God is confirming that I'm on the right track. And so I want to share a little bit with you. There's no way I can share every single thing and every single point God has given me so far because this will be, uh, probably an hour podcast, and I like to keep my podcast episodes meaty but concise because, you know, time and our attention spans can be very short, and I don't want you to miss anything. And so one scripture I'm going to share with you in particular today is going to be coming from Isaiah chapter 54, verse 17, and it says, no weapon that is formed against you will succeed. And every tongue that rises against you in judgment, you will condemn. All right, so this is what the Lord revealed to me, and also some of this came from Pastor Stephanie. I'm giving credit where credit is due, okay, because she went in this word and she studied this thing. All right, and so oftentimes we hear this, you know, whoever performed against me shall prosper. Every person speaking against me, I cancel it out now in the name of Jesus Christ, right? That's great. But sometimes the person that is speaking against us is us. Sometimes our negative thoughts, our negative thinking, um, our experiences that we, that we have from day to day, you know, I, I doubt all these things come up. And whenever we speak against things, wherever we're having negative thoughts towards things that God has given us, towards promises that God has given us, We're literally speaking death against it, and it becomes a weapon against your own purpose. My God, my God, my God. So how many times have we as a body of Christ done that? Too many times to count, right? Too many times to count. I can look back, like I said before, I've had to learn how to go back and repent because I understand that my words carry weight. And we have to understand that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was who? Was God, and the Word was Jesus. Okay, so if God created the world through his words and then we are made in God's image, that means we have the same access and the same authority as God. But many people don't understand that. Many people don't fully embrace or embody the fact that We have power in our words like God and like Christ. Of course, you know, if you are speaking something that's not in the will of God, of course it's not going to really manifest. And that's a word that's becoming very popular, but it's scriptural as well. As long as you're doing it according to the will of God and you're doing it through Christ, you can use that word, okay? And so what we say, over time it manifests. Okay, think about our children. My kids, oh gosh, I speak life into them all the time. Like, even when they're doing wrong, I said, you know what, you did wrong, me and your dad are disappointed, we upset, we still love you, and you're going to be this and you're going to be that. And we speak life into them. We don't allow condemnation to consume them. No ma'am and no sir, we're not doing that. Because I realize how, you know, that the enemy will use that to try to destroy their image, try to destroy their self-esteem. Esteem. And I myself have endured that, my husband has endured that, and I've counseled so many people over the years who have all this childhood wounds because of words spoken over their life. Like, this is only a piece of what God has been revealing to me. This isn't even— this is only the tip of the iceberg, okay? We're gonna go over specific stories each episode that are going to be short and concise but very relevant to what I'll be doing, um, as far as the podcast episodes. You guys, this, this blessed me so, so, so much. And so I do want to share this nugget. This is a marriage nugget right here. This is a relationship nugget when it comes to man and woman, okay? And so after me listening to, you know, Pastor Stephanie Ike's message and then hearing what God had to say, God began to speak to me about my marriage. And the Lord began to tell me, he said, this is why your husband doesn't really say a whole lot. He's slow to speak but quick to listen to you whenever you're frustrated, whenever people come to him about issues, because I me— I'm talking about God— I have given man a natural conviction to not respond to situations so quickly because they have more authority than a woman, because they have dominion, because their words carry weight, because they were created to be the priesthood, um, to be the priest of their home, because they were created to lead their home. And so I'm like, wow. I kind of thinking about that thing. And I said, God, my husband is very slow to speak. And I could tell he'll get frustrated about certain things. And it's not that he's not hearing me out. My feelings are valid. But he doesn't want to speak out of context. And what God was telling me was that I gave men, men, M-E-N, you know, the spiritual conviction to not say but so much until they get clarity. From me. And I was like, God, that is so true. And so I begin to think about the different women who get upset whenever they're sharing with their husband their feelings, their experiences, or talking about family dynamics, and they don't respond, and they get upset because they want them to agree. No, they're supposed to take out time to listen and make sure that they are accurate, because their words have the power to destroy a thing or to give life to a thing. So if I come to him and I'm frustrated and I'm in my feelings and my flesh, and he begins, you know what, you right, you know what, it's gonna egg me on, right? It's gonna get me all pumped up, it's gonna get him all pumped up, and that's not what I need and that's not what he needs, okay? And so women, we are the weaker vessel. That's, that's just what it is, it's scripture. Okay, I have plenty of examples of that that I can share whenever my husband and I do a podcast episode together about the, you know, the authority and the submission. And we'll go over all that, okay? We'll go over all that. And we actually have a— I think an episode on my YouTube channel about, um, submitting to your wife— I'm submitting to your husband. So if you get a chance, you can definitely check it out on my YouTube channel. And so that's what I wanted to share. So I had to call my husband and tell him thank you. He was at work. I said, thank you for being slow to respond, because the Lord revealed to me that he, he has created men to respond in that way, so that way they're not, um, speaking out of context. And as we— if you go and look at scripture and we look at Zechariah and Elizabeth, you know, the angel had to silence Zechariah's mouth because he was like speaking against what God was doing whenever, you know, she got pregnant with John the Baptist. And so that's another example in scripture of how important it is that we watch our words, especially men, because he had the power and the authority to speak against the baby. And God really needed him because he was a pivotal person in scripture, a pivotal person that he needed to be the forerunner before Christ. Okay, and so, oh gosh, you guys, it's so many layers to this. It's so many layers, and I can't wait to, um, talk about it more and to encourage you guys more. And so that's it. I'mma leave it right here. Make sure you tune in for season 2. And I wanted to say a quick prayer. So Father, I just thank you right now for every single listener. I pray, God, that your people has received something from this episode today. I pray, God, for their healing. I pray, God, for their deliverance. I pray, God, that that they receive clarity. I pray, God, that they will hear your voice like never before. I pray for those who are battling in their mind, who was going through, um, different issues in their home, in their finances, in their marriage, in their relationships. Father, Father, open up their eyes to see areas that they need to submit to you. And Father, we just thank you, and I give you the honor, the glory, and the praise. And I submit season 2 to you wholeheartedly, Father, for you to do whatever it is that you want to do, Lord God, through me, because I am your vessel. In Christ's name I pray, amen. All right, you guys, I'll talk to you next time. Oh yeah, and by the way, I should have an episode that will, um, come out on Sunday. I'm not sure yet when season 2 will end, but I will let you guys know. Talk to you later. Thank you so much for tuning in to today's episode. Our prayer is that this podcast episode has blessed you. Don't forget to go and subscribe and leave us a raving review. If you would like to sow into this ministry or to this podcast, Pain, Passion, and Purpose, you can do so at anchor.fm/painpassionandpurpose. Bit.ly/fm/painpassionandpurpose or Cash App $shakeetatorres. Thank you so much, and I will talk to you next time.